KEY POINTS:
An opinion poll released today shows a significant increase in support for Labour, and National's lead has been reduced to just 6.5 percentage points.
The New Zealand Morgan poll was the best news for the Government in a long time and follows the trend of other recent surveys which have shown the gap narrowing.
Labour gained four points to 38 per cent support while National slipped 3.5 points to 44.5 per cent.
On August 24 a TV3/TNS poll showed a similar result, with National's lead down to 11 points compared with 16 points earlier in the year.
On August 28 a New Zealand Herald/DigiPoll showed a gap of 13.7 points compared with 24.6 points in July.
Morgan researchers said the 6.5 point gap was the closest in nearly a year, since October 2007 when National was on 45 per cent and Labour on 40 per cent.
"The lack of clear policy direction from the opposition National Party has given (Prime Minister) Helen Clark and Labour renewed hope of winning an unlikely election victory, as National has yet to make the case for why it deserves to form the next government," they said.
The poll questioned 841 voters between August 18 and 31, covering the problems encountered by New Zealand First and its leader Winston Peters.
It showed that NZ First was suffering - down four points to 2.5 per cent - but the controversy had not rubbed off on the Government.
The poll showed the Greens up half a point to 8 per cent and the Maori Party up 1.5 points to 3.5 per cent. ACT was unchanged on 1.5 per cent and the other minor parties were around 1 per cent.
The results indicate that although National still holds the lead, Labour and the Greens could outflank it unless one of the minor parties decided to support National.
- NZPA
